Conscience

God-given Conscience

Either at conception God gave us conscience or it was imparted to us at some stage later on

For some philosophers, conscience is the tool through which God speaks to them (Butler, Newman, St Augustine)

For others it is the ability to reason and determine what is 'right' and what is 'wrong' that comes from God and which is our conscience (Aquinas, St Paul)

Conscience is a gift that is required in order for humans to be moral

St Augustine of Hippo saw conscience as the voice of God speaking to us from within. Following our conscience helps us become closer to God.

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Innate Conscience

Innate within us:

Conscience doesn't depend on our experiences or any sort of social conditioning or learning

Instead, inside each human there is a conscience that was either part of us when we were created or is part of how our brain is wired due to evolution

However, if we all have the the same conscience, why do we not all agree on the same moral values

Aquinasbelieved that even though conscience is innate, it still requires instruction and training

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Conscience instilled by society

Instilled by society:

Conscience is a result of society's expectations upon us

Something is acceptable if society in general accepts it, therefore our conscience will generally accept these ideas of morality, reflecting society's rules and values

The culture in which we are raised plays a large part in the development of our moral reasoning

Georg Hegelsaid that we make our judgements according to the conscience that society formed

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Conscience created by our parents

Instilled by our parents:

For most of us, our values and morals originate in our upbringing

Morally, we are the products of our parents

Piaget'sdevelopment theory suggests that around the age of ten we accept the morallity of what our parents teach us

Even after this age our moral decisions are influenced by the moral awareness instilled by our parents

Sociologists also argue that the concept of conscience is significantly reinforced by our upbringing

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Conscience instilled by authority figures

Instilled by authority:

Our conscience is formed and moulded by the authority figures we encounter

﻿They provide role models for us concerning what is 'right' and 'wrong'

This influence can have both positive and negative effects which can explain why people do acts perceived 'wrong' or 'bad'

Many serial killers or paedophiles would claim that their reasoning and motivation for the acts they commit and who they have become are due to negative authority figures in their early years

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Thomas Aquinas

Conscience is the power of reason:

Conscience isn't an inner knowledge of right and wrong, but a device or faculty for distinguishing right from wrong actions

﻿﻿People basically tend to the good and away from evil (the synderesis rule)

Conscience is 'reason malking right decisions'

There are two parts to making moral decisions:

synderesis is right reason, an awareness of the moral principle to do good and avoid evil

conscientia distinguishes between right and wrong and makes moral decisions

It is a sin not to follow your conscience

When people do evil they are following an apparent good - their conscience is mistaken

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Joseph Butler

Intuitive conscience:

Conscience is the final moral decision maker

God-given - not the word of God

It distinguishes between approval and disapproval of human action

Humans are influenced by two basis principles, self-love and benevolence

Conscience directs us towards benevolence and away from self-love

It is 'our natural guide, the guide assigned us by the Auther of our nature'

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Sigmund Freud

Conscience as guilt:

The human psyche is inspired by powerful instinctive desires which have to be satisfied

﻿Children learn that the world restricts these desires

Humans create the 'ego', which takes account of the realities of the world and society

A 'super-ego' internalises and reflects anger and disapproval of others

A guilty conscience is created which grows into a life and power of its own, irrespective of the rational thought and reflection of the individual

The mature and healthy conscience is the ego's reflection about the best way of achieving integrity

The immature conscience (the super-ego) is a mass of feelings of guilt

The psychological account of conscience is modern, but can undermine both of the pervious religious views

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J.H. Newman

'I toast the Pope, but I toast conscience first':

Agreed with Aquinas - conscience is the ability to appreciate and apply moral principles

However, his approach was more Intuitive - much like Butler

When someone is following their conscience they are to an extent following a divine law as given by God

Conscience is God's voice giving us moral direction - conscience is more than a sense of reason

Conscience detects the truth that already exists

You must follow your conscience as it is the divine law

Guilt is the consequence of not obeying the voice of God

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J. Piaget

The developmental conscience:

Before the age of ten children take their morality from their parents/carers

Between the age of 10 and 5 moral rules are seen as inflexible/absolute

From the age of 10+ rules a recognised as flexible/to benefit society

After this stage their own moral reasoning becomes more prominent due to increasing awareness of morality and society around them

This is due to the child's cognitive development

Development of conscience is something that is learned from external influences but is also naturally occuring

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Erich Fromm

Instilled by authority:

Conscience comes form those around us who exert their authority over us

Authority figures have the power to reward us when we do something that by their ethical code is 'right' and punish us when we do something that by their ethical code is 'wrong'

This results in us 'picking up' on what actions/behaviours/consequences benefit us and those that don't - this creates our conscience

A guilty conscience is a result of displeasing those in authority, therefore we fear some sort of rejection from them - Fromm called this authoritiarian conscience

Fromm's perspective on conscience changed over time

He said that our conscience enables us to assess our success as a human by evaluating our behaviour according to the examples of others, which enables us to develop traits such as integrity and honesty

Fromm called this the humanistic consience - sometimes referring to it as 'the real conscience' or 'a reaction of ourselves to ourselves'

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Problems with conscience

Problems:

Conscience can be influneced by our emotions or emotional attachments which can cause us to make moral decisions that are subjective and possibly morally dubious

Is it necessary to detach our emotions when making decisions according to conscience?

Otherwise will what we do merely be what we think is 'right'?

Exceptions to conscience:

Some psychologists are suggesting that some people have no conscience

They say that the Moors Murderers or the James Bulgar killers did not have any conscience

If conscience comes from God, why do some people not appear to have one?

If the conscience is developed through childhood, why do some people not possess this inner moral sense?